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The Perks Are Great, Just Don’t Ask What We Do

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Re: The Perks Are Great, Just Don’t Ask What We Do

#211

Post by mcguire »

fiatmoney wrote: post #103
aresant wrote: post #62

So what else is new. If you work at Facebook or Google you're benefiting directly from the similarly shady practices they used to grow on their way to being "pillars of tech" today. Do you remember when at LEAST 20% of Facebook's revenue came from Zynga? Like less than 5 years ago? Many speculated it was considerably higher, but Facebook never provided a full accounting (1). Or do you remember when Facebook literally…

Every nation is built on a hill of skulls. "Has done in the past" is not the same as "is currently doing".

No one who eats meat can have a stronger ethical position than the guy who kills the chickens. If you enjoy the results, you cannot avoid responsibility for how the results were achieved.

Re: The Perks Are Great, Just Don’t Ask What We Do

#212

Post by TeMPOraL »

ryanl0l wrote: post #210
TeMPOraL wrote: post #197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Letter of the law vs. spirit of the law.

Subsidiaries in countries with low tax rates certainly aren't against the spirit of the law.

Isn't the spirit to promote foreign investment, as opposed to domestic companies restructuring themselves to look foreign on paper?

Re: The Perks Are Great, Just Don’t Ask What We Do

#213

Post by notacoward »

ryanl0l wrote: post #209
notacoward wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here are some citations. https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/n-14-58.pdf https://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Guidance-for-Examiners-and-Ma... Just look up "sham transaction" for plenty more. It's a very well established concept and doctrine. Nobody should be splitting hairs about avoiding vs. evading taxes, or generally pontificating about fiduciary duty, without understanding it.

That's not what you said though. >Actions that are deemed to have been taken solely for their tax effects are clearly and explicitly deemed tax evasion by the IRS What you said would make almost all tax avoidance into tax evasion. Hell, even claiming deductions would by your logic be tax evasion.

You didn't read the citations before saying that, did you?

Re: The Perks Are Great, Just Don’t Ask What We Do

#214

Post by trhway »

Apocryphon wrote: post #116
aresant wrote: post #62

So what else is new. If you work at Facebook or Google you're benefiting directly from the similarly shady practices they used to grow on their way to being "pillars of tech" today. Do you remember when at LEAST 20% of Facebook's revenue came from Zynga? Like less than 5 years ago? Many speculated it was considerably higher, but Facebook never provided a full accounting (1). Or do you remember when Facebook literally…

Facebook and Google at least have products that are mostly consumer-facing. One wonders what it would be like to work for Palantir.

>One wonders what it would be like to work for Palantir.

these young excited guys running around on University look to be quite happy to be on the cyber front line of defending Motherland against internal and external terrorists and various other enemies.

Re: The Perks Are Great, Just Don’t Ask What We Do

#215

Post by rhizome »

kbenson wrote: post #175
drumdance wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When people bring up "fiduciary duty" in either a taxes or outsourcing context (i.e. it's Apple's fiduciary duty to build its products in China), I always ask for a pointer to a successful lawsuit in which this particular fiduciary duty was enforced. Yes, in theory it's their fiduciary duty to minimize taxes, but I've never heard of a board being sued because they didn't squeeze every last dollar out of their tax bil…

First link in the quick Google search I did, which starts with a story where Henry Ford wanted to stop paying special dividends to partial owners. "At trial, Ford testified to his belief that the company made too much money and had an obligation to benefit the public and the firm’s workers and customers." The judge did no agree. I haven't read the whole article yet, but it seems definitely to apply (and also notes th…

I'd say a 100 year old case speaks to a lack of enforcement of fiduciary duty in the courts.

Re: The Perks Are Great, Just Don’t Ask What We Do

#216

Post by alanh »

kragen wrote: post #207
switz wrote: post #72

I interviewed at 50onRed a few years ago soon after I left college. I went through the interview process, received an offer, and was on the verge of accepting. It was at this point I realized that I barely understood what the company actually did. I set up another in-person interview, except this time with the roles reversed. I asked them to walk me through their products and platforms so I could better understand wh…

Good for you. If more people were like you, companies like 50onRed wouldn't exist. I think you may have meant "insidious", though, not "insipid" — because "insipid" is the opposite of "intriguing" and "compelling".

I think it works. The 'problem' 50onRed is 'solving' is not an intriguing or compelling one.

Re: The Perks Are Great, Just Don’t Ask What We Do

#217

Post by Apocryphon »

trhway wrote: post #214
Apocryphon wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Facebook and Google at least have products that are mostly consumer-facing. One wonders what it would be like to work for Palantir.

>One wonders what it would be like to work for Palantir. these young excited guys running around on University look to be quite happy to be on the cyber front line of defending Motherland against internal and external terrorists and various other enemies.

"enemies foreign and domestic"

Re: The Perks Are Great, Just Don’t Ask What We Do

#218

Post by alanh »

stordoff wrote: post #156

Mildly off-topic, but why do sites like this highlight the "top highlight"? I always find it really off-putting (in a "Oh, you tracking EVERYTHING I do" sort of way")

"sites like this" = Medium.com sub-brands. I don’t know why Medium chooses to do that. I dislike it, too.

Re: The Perks Are Great, Just Don’t Ask What We Do

#219

Post by cookiecaper »

collyw wrote: post #161
avs733 wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the company in the article would argue that they provide value as well.

Ask the end users instead.

Who's the end user? The company that pays 50onRed for ad placement is presumably satisfied and sees a corresponding spike in conversions. In theory, the viewer of the ad is grateful that they were made aware of a product or service that was relevant to their interests and/or needs, as evidenced by 50onRed obtaining a good conversion rate for its client.

Pretty easy to rationalize it. The most problematic part would be the way it gets installed on user computers (covertly), but which could also pretty easily be rationalized away by saying that users don't understand all that tech mumbo-jumbo, and they just want to be sold things that they want and/or need.

Re: The Perks Are Great, Just Don’t Ask What We Do

#220

Post by Phlarp »

rhizome wrote: post #215
kbenson wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

First link in the quick Google search I did, which starts with a story where Henry Ford wanted to stop paying special dividends to partial owners. "At trial, Ford testified to his belief that the company made too much money and had an obligation to benefit the public and the firm’s workers and customers." The judge did no agree. I haven't read the whole article yet, but it seems definitely to apply (and also notes th…

I'd say a 100 year old case speaks to a lack of enforcement of fiduciary duty in the courts.

On the other hand, "Henry Ford got smacked for it" speaks loud enough to stop most executives and their corporate lawyers from testing the waters. Even if some time has passed.
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